Dara Beevas is a native of the Washington, D.C. area. She currently lives in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of South Minneapolis. Her personal projects include working on a collection of short stories. Her short story “For Peach” was recently selected for Outrageous Fortune, an online literary magazine.

Natalie Delgado is in the 8th grade and is making her professional debut as an actress and writer. Natalie is a natural performer and is excited to contribute as a performing artist with these other amazing wordsmiths.

Nimo Farah embraces her experiences as a refugee Muslim woman living in America but believes the human spirit is too multi-dimensional to categorize and classify. Exposed to many cultures and struggles, she is inspired to write about and celebrate the resilience, complexity and compassion of the human spirit. She aspires to be a keeper of her ancestor’s rich oral traditions and mother tongue; both are at the brink of endangerment.

Shane Hawley is a spoken word artist and comedian from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He won the 2010 National Poetry Slam as a member of Saint Paul’s Soapboxing Slam Team, and is a four- time member of the Minneapolis SlamMN Slam Team from 2002–2005. His work, an amalgam of sweet nothings, shock, humor, and subtly clever writing connects with an audience like a sack of kittens to the solar plexus.

Sheronda Orridge, Owner /President of Loving Spirit Life Coach Academy, was born and raised in Chicago, IL. In search of a better life, she moved to the Twin Cities in March of 1995 with her six-month-old daughter. Realizing that a better life means being part of a healthy community, Sheronda has made building strong and healthy communities her life‘s work and mission. She has an online radio show and is a popular host on SPNN, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network.

“Q,” born Quentin Moore, in Chicago, IL, was raised on the North side of Minneapolis. He graduated from De La Salle in 2005. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in advertising and a minor in sociology last spring. He began writing in 6th grade. He was published in 7th grade for a poem entitled “Questions about Love.” Writing was pushed to the back burner for a few years until junior in high school. Ever since then it has become a passion. Writing wakes him up. Writing keeps him up. Writing gives him energy. Every day is an opportunity to observe. So, to Q every day is an opportunity to write.

Currently, Mickey Rich runs an open stage at Pepito’s Poco Loco Lounge in South Minneapolis where he appears each Tuesday night. He also hits comedy stages across the state, inflicting himself upon the unwitting masses. He writes jokes, shorts, and screenplays, and works in every aspect of video production. He volunteers at the Givens Foundation for African American Literature, where he was a fellow in their 2009 Black Writers’ Collaborative Retreat, under the tutelage of writers Ishmael Reed and Laurie Carlos.

Deborah Torraine will be your Emcee for this evening. Tonight we will hear about “The Sacred.” Deborah says that when she reads the word sacred, she stops to re-read it again because at first glance it looks like the word scared. Deborah is known for both her strong narratives and the home-spun feel of her stories.